Chad,
Daryl, it's great to hear about the long history and storied legacy of your BBS. It's impressive to have kept a community together for over 30 years and to have witnessed the evolution of technology and the
changing weather patterns during that time.
If you go to tbolt.synchro.net -- look in file board 1, file area 1, for a file named TBHISTRY.ZIP which details my foray into computers, and eventually to BBSing...nearly 40 years in length now. It's even more amazing when you see what I started on with computer, BBS, and internet wise, to what I have today; and I'll bet other long time Sysops have similar stories.
I know that storms and tornadoes can be unpredictable and highly dangerous, and it's good to hear that National Weather Service
personnel, storm spotters, and emergency responders are on top of this situation. Thank you for the reminders to stay aware of weather
changes, especially during tornado season.
I tend to get very anxious during stormy weather, as I've been:
1) Under 2 tornadic funnel clouds (the rotation was directly overhead), and within a mile of an F-1 and an F-4 rain wrapped tornado.
2) Struck by lightning twice, at 3 and 16 years of age. The strikes were indirect, but I still got the shock, and have nervous system damage as a result. I nearly got hit a third time about 20 years ago...and I don't want that to be the charm. However, I joke that "I carry no electrical charge,
and can be handled safely". <G>
3) Nearly drowned in a flash flood in a local college campus in 1978. The
water was ankle deep at 8am, knee deep at 9am, and waist deep at 10am. The current near the library was so strong, that it nearly pulled me under. In
the area, 10 people drowned that day...cars were floating into each other
in the parking lots (a normally slow running creek through campus became a raging river from heavy rain producing thunderstorms)...and on a putting
range about a mile away, all you could see was this huge golf ball in the distance...everything else was submerged. The submerged vehicles, were now worthless, as the electronics had been ruined by the flooding.
At my former employer, one day, much of Arkansas was under both a moderate risk of severe weather, as well as a Tornado Watch. A thunderstorm near Hot Springs had become tornadic, and it was heading toward Little Rock. I was monitoring both NOAA Weather Radio, and the ham radio Skywarn Storm Spotters for updates. My boss (who always said "the area won't be affected") told me "turn that off". I snapped at him, saying "You don't even do tornado safety drills here...I'm not going to get caught by surprise".
Had he said "Turn that off, or you're fired"...I would've unplugged it, walked to the time clock, punched out for the final time, and headed to downtown Little Rock to the Federal Building and OSHA, and turned them
in for "endangering the health, safety, and welfare of their employees
and customers". On Jan. 21, 1999, when Arkansas had nearly 5 dozen
tornadoes, most in just 6 hours, one came perilously close to the home
of one of the employees. Had I recorded when he said "It won't do anything", and then put it on the news, people would've been all over him like flies
on manure.
In Arkansas, a tornado and a divorce have the same thing in common...
either way, you're going to lose the trailer. And, the weather changes
more often than you change your underwear...although I'm not sure how
that applies to nudists. <G>
It was Skywarn operations that got me interested in amateur radio back
in 1991, but after 28 years of weather, I got burned out...nearly quitting
the hobby. But, I switched the emphasis to trains/railroading, and changed
my callsign.
I used to do weather nets, usually in the dead of night. Around 1:30am
one morning, a tornado hit the community of Atkins, Arkansas, and I was
"on the air" providing updates. About 3am, one fellow ham radio operator
came on, and said "I swear!! Every time there's bad weather, I turn on
the radio, and you're here!! Don't you ever sleep??!!".
I replied "No. Next Question"...and busted out laughing at my sarcasm. <G>
There were some who wanted to know EXACT SPECIFICS of severe or winter weather, before it occurred...and I couldn't convince them that "there's
no way we can know that"...adding "you might as well be asking who the
next Pope is of the Catholic Church, while the current one is still alive;
or for the day and time of your death"...then, I was told "You're getting
nasty about it, now".
As they say, "duct tape can't fix stupid, but it helps mask the noise".
Please take care of yourself and don't hesitate to reach out if you
have any concerns or questions.
I saw Lord Blackfair in here briefly the other day, but forgot to ask
him on his "updated captcha" (where it changes with each connect), how
to implement that. The "original captcha" he did, didn't change the 6
digit code. But, I found out how to modify the captcha.src file, and
put in a different 6 digit code, and integrate it with the ACEMTRX logon program. Then, I set up batchfiles to change the ACEMTRX.BIN file (with
the code) every 5 minutes around the clock). The bots will never see the
code anyway, and while it was tedious setting those up, I don't see the "attempted logons" with things like "Root", "Admin", "Sysop", etc. from
the Synchronet Control Panel.
Also, in reviewing the control panel, if I see a certain IP repeatedly
slam the port (I have the max concurrent connects set to 1), I enter
that IP into the ip.can file, where they're locked out of the system.
It's a shame that Sysops have had to always deal with twits.
Daryl
... Effective cure for being a twit -- become a Sysop!!
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